By Sunday Aborisade & Stanley Opara
The association made the threat on Wednesday in a statement signed by its National President, Mr. Babatunde Ogun.
Although the association did not say the exact time it would shut down production, its Lagos branch Chairman, Rev. Folorunsho Ogini, said in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents that if the government failed to address the grievances of the people, the body would shut down crude production nationwide from Friday.
“Now that the Federal Government has decided to be callous minded, we hereby direct all production platforms to be on red alert in preparation for total production shutdown,” Ogun said in the statement.
According to him, PENGASSAN is fully in support of the mass action called by the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, saying, “We hereby thank all Nigerians for their resolve on this peaceful mass protest.”
He said as an affiliate of TUC, PENGASSAN offices across the nation also observed the industrial action, which commenced on Monday.
Ogun said no report was currently being generated from production locations to both the Department of Petroleum Resources and the Federal Government.
“This is one of the very first steps in the shutdown process. We believe that a government that is alive to its responsibilities will not allow this strike to degenerate thus far,” he added.
Ogun said PENGASSAN's position was that before the subsidy would be removed on petrol, some conditions must first be met.
The conditions, he said, included fixing of the nation's four refineries and building of new ones; regular supply of electricity; provision of social infrastructure such as rail system and roads; and elimination of corruption associated with the supply and distribution of petroleum products in the downstream sector of the oil industry.
He said, “All Nigerians should please note that the fuel subsidy issue is only a tip of the iceberg amidst a plethora of issues needing urgent redress.
“We hereby call on all Nigerians not to be weary, but keep faith in the collective will of the people to liberate us from this missrule.”
The association's National Executive Council, after its meeting last week, described the removal of subsidy on petrol by the government as announced by the Executive Secretary, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency as hasty, illegal and without consultation with other stakeholders.
It insisted that the government must revert to the old price of N65 per litre for petrol to before negotiations on the issue of subsidy and/or deregulation could take place.
The Mobil Producing Nigeria branch of PENGASSAN had earlier on Wednesday threatened to shut down the firm's facilities, which have the capacity to produce about 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day if the Federal Government refused to accede to the demands of Nigerians by Friday.
The country currently produces 2.4 million barrels of oil per day.
It said in a communiqué jointly signed by its Chairman, Mr. Jude Nwaogu, and Secretary, Mr. Dominc Abang, that it would withdraw all its members, including those on offshore facilities, if the government remained adamant.
The union said the decision to shut down the facilities was taken at a meeting held at the MPN operational base at the Qua Iboe Terminal to review the progress of the ongoing strike against the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government.
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